Lears Shadow

Does any here know me? This is not Lear.
Does Lear walk thus, speak thus? Where are his eyes?
Either his notion weakens, or his discernings
Are lethargied--Ha! Waking? 'Tis not so.
Who is it that can tell me who I am?

Lear's shadow.

This passage is representative of many of the larger themes throughout the play. Lear attempts to understand what it means to be "Lear," and when he cannot decide, he asks a fool. The ridiculousness of this interaction--a king asking about his identity with a fool--reflects the larger nihilistic undertones throughout the play. Shakespeare is stripping away the scripts Lear adheres to systematically: first his walk, then his speech (his lofty language), then his very thoughts, or "notions." Finally the fool reveals that he is merely a shadow of himself. This is significant both in terms of the meaninglessness of scripts, but also in terms of Lear as a remnant. He is a figment of the imagination, a 2-bodied king who has given away his physical body, and he is what remains after disillusionment--a shadow.

Waldo's section at 5:00
Samantha Moeller